Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy
Plot Zim finally finishes one of his self-proclaimed brilliant inventions, a space-time-object-transfer device, in which he plans to send a giant robot into the past in order to put an end to Dib once and for all. However, when the robot isn't compatible with the temporal field, he throws a rubber pig into the vortex instead, which turns out to be compatible and it causes Dib to crash his tricycle in the past. Zim decides to send many more rubber pigs into Dib's past, which ultimately affect him in the future. Pigs are switched with a hover helmet, which causes an airborne (past) Dib to crash, a video camera, which startles (past) Dib and causes him to fall off a jungle gym, and an AED, which instead of restarting (past) Dib's heart, ends up crushing his bones. Zim then believes Dib to be dead, but Professor Membrane brings him back to life with a robotic suit. (present) Dib, using the suit, crashes his way into Zim's Base, trying to get to Zim. Zim desperately throws more rubber pigs in to the time machine, hoping that there's a point in the past where Dib is still vulnerable. But Zim instead makes Professor Membrane make more modifications to the suit in the past, in turn making it more deadly. Using the last piggy, Zim sends a note to himself in the past, warning him to not use the time machine. At the last second, everything returns to normal, except for the fact that the object the piggy replaced in the past was Zim's brain. Facts of Doom Cultural References *The business man Professor Membrane describes in the temporal object displacement depiction, Walton Chunky, is based on Milton Bradley. *Professor Membrane's TV show, Probing the Membrane of Science, seems to parody real-life science educational programs such as Watch Mr. Wizard and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Trivia of Doom *During a commentary Jhonen states that the original idea was for Zim to kill Dib permanently in this episode and be replaced with a new kid, Louie, but Nickelodeon wouldn't allow him to kill anyone on a children's cartoon. **However, by this standard, it is unknown why they let the episode air at all, because Dib was technically dead for a few seconds in the episode. Things You Might Have Missed *There is an instance of Bloody GIR as Zim throws the last piggy into the portal. Animation Errors * When Zim snatches the piggy from GIR, it's right there in plain sight. but, when the piggies come from GIR's head, it disappears. It appears again when GIR is crying. *The gnomes in this episode are somewhat bigger than normal. They also disappear during one of the scenes and are replaced with a sign. *Before the first temporal change, Dib already has a metal claw, even though there was a flash afterwards to indicate the first change. *Once Dib falls off the tower in the past, there is an over head shot of him on the ground and his cracked air tank above his head. Then the paramedics say" clear" and hit him with the pigs. In the very next shot, you see Dib and people standing over him but no air tank. Then the tank comes back on the next overhead shot. Quotes Young Gaz: You're gonna get in trouble if Dad finds out you took his hover helmet! Young Dib: (fast) I'll put it right back! I just wanna see if I can make it into SPACE with this thing! (Dib bangs against tree) Dib: Wow! I can see the family of nosferatus that moved down the street! Hmm? (helmet replaced by pig) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Gaz: Wow! Dib: (walking up and holding an empty box) Hey, Gaz. Did you eat all the cereal? (tips box upside down; nothing comes out) I was gonna have this for breakfast tomorrow, y'know? Gaz: (looking over at Dib) You think you own all the cereal. Well, you know what, Dib? You don't. Y'just don't! (looks back at TV) Younger Gaz: Not again... Letter to Zim: ZIM! Don't use the time machine. Love, ZIM! Professor Membrane: Anyone who would want to build a space-time object replacement device is a complete moron! (echoing as the scene cuts to Zim's base) moron! moron! Zim: GIR! The space-time object replacement device is ready! Paramedic: Come on kid! If I lose one more patient today, I'm going to get written up! GIR: Where did the last piggy go? GIR: WHY, WHY, MY PIGGY?! I LOVEDED YOU, PIGGY! I LOVEDED YOOOU! GIR: Wait, if you destroyed Dib in the past, then he won't ever be your enemy, then you won't have to send a robot back to destroy him, again he will be your enemy so you will have to send a robot back — (his head explodes) GIR: Ooooooooh! Zim: A Hunter-Destroy — GIR: What is it?! Zim: A Hunter-Destroy — GIR: WHAT IS IT?! Zim: ...a hunter destroyer machine. Zim: More piggies, GIR! I DEMAND PIGGIEES!! See also *Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy (Transcript) *Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy Screenshots References http://www.tv.com/invader-zim/bad-bad-rubber-piggy/episode/178264/summary.html Category:Season 1 Category:Professor Membrane Filmography Category:Dib Filmography Category:Zim Filmography Category:GIR Filmography Category:Gaz Filmography Category:Episodes